If you’re having trouble placing “Ozark” character Randall Schafer’s face, know you’ve probably seen him before somewhere.
In the final season of the Netflix series, Bruce Davison plays Senator Randall Schafer. In a pre-season show release, the streaming service identifies the man as a retired senator from Wendy and Marty’s old life in Illinois. Netflix said Schafer is “accustomed to doing things his way [and] is not always easy to win over… but for the right price…”
The final season of “Ozark” started on Friday with a few new characters, but Davison has some staying power. According to Looper, the 75-year-old man worked in over 250 TV and movie productions.
Davison Goes Back To ‘The Waltons’ Time
The actor got his start in the 1960s with a 1969 film called “Last Summer” alongside “Waltons” actor Richard Thomas.
Davison ended up joining Thomas in a 1975 episode of the long-running show (Season 3, Episode 19 called “The Shivaree.) In it, Davison plays a city-slicker named Bob Hill. Hill comes from Jefferson County, Va., to marry a Walton family friend. But the country life isn’t Hill’s cup of tea, and he’s slow to adjust to his new surroundings. Finally, he joins his fiancée by the end of the episode. Notably, Hill’s wife dies in an auto accident the next season (Episode 10 “The Loss”).
Davison and Thomas did another film together called “Down, Out, & Dangerous” in 1995, before hooking up with Jason Bateman for this “Ozark” series.
Davison In Two X-Men Films
Sure, Bruce Davison played a senator long before taking on the “Ozark” role.
Dust off your DVD collection and go back to 2000 as he played Senator Kelly in the “X-Men” franchise. He starred in the opening moments of that film, debating whether mutants were good for society. He wondered out loud if they posed a threat to humans. Soon after, Kelly is kidnapped by mutants and turned into one himself. He reprises his role in the 2003 film “X-Men United.”
Davison’s Other Notable TV Appearances
This “Ozark” actor can act and seems to be in the right place at the right time.
He found his way into three “Seinfeld” episodes. In the longtime comedy, Davison plays Wyck Thayer, the chairman of the Susan Ross Foundation. Ross was George Costanza’s fiancée and died suddenly. As a result of her death, Thayer leads her foundation and appears in two 1996 shows and one 1997 episode.
Davison appeared in two episodes of the ABC series “Lost” in 2006 and 2010.
There was “Touched By An Angel” in 1998. He appeared in nine episodes of “The Practice” with current “Law & Order Organized Crime” bad guy Dylan McDermott. By 2002, Davison found his way into “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”
So, it just goes to show you once you get your foot in the acting door and you’re good, you can stick around and find your way onto “Ozark.”
